Courses

Philosophy Courses

PHIL 2, Introduction to Philosophy: Morality and Politics
Lec-52.5 P/NP Available

ADVISE: Readiness for college-level English or ESL 188

An examination of such questions as: Are there conditions under which value judgments can be rationally defended? If there are such grounds, what are they? If not, what consequences, if any, follow from ethical skepticism? Can value judgments about individuals or societies be justified on rationally acceptable grounds? Application of theories to moral problems.

UC/CSU
Units: 3
Credit type: Credit/Degree Applicable
PHIL 4, Introduction to Philosophy: Knowledge and Its Limits
Lec-52.5

ADVISE: Readiness for college-level English or ESL 188

The tools and techniques of philosophical reasoning: reading argumentative prose;
analyzing conceptual models; writing critical essays. Problems of knowledge: the criteria
of reliable knowledge; the formulation and justification of beliefs the sources and limits
of knowledge; beliefs about the physical world, the past and future, and other minds.
Critical standards applied to related metaphysical issues: theism, mind and self-identity,
determinism.

UC/CSU
Units: 3
Credit type: Credit/Degree Applicable
PHIL 12A, Symbolic Logic
Lec-87.5

PREREQ: Intermediate algebra or higher

The study of logical relationships by way of models and procedures in a symbolic system. The concept of proof and the demands of formal proofs. Methods of demonstrating logical relationships, including truth tables, derivations in sentence and predicate logic, and semantic interpretations. The relation between conventional languages and symbolic encodings. A selection of related theoretical topics, including proofs of soundness and consistency of the calculi, and elementary set theory.

UC/CSU
Units: 5
Credit type: Credit/Degree Applicable
PHIL 25A, Ancient Philosophy
Lec-52.5

ADVISE: Readiness for college-level English or ESL 188

The origins of the philosophical-scientific tradition. Early attempts at rational explanations of the natural world. Socrates and the foundations of moral criticism. Plato: His articulation of the problems of knowledge, his contributions to moral and political theory. Aristotle: His organization of scientific inquiry, formulation of ethical theory, and development of the science of logic. The philosophical tradition after Aristotle.

UC/CSU
Units: 3
Credit type: Credit/Degree Applicable
PHIL 25C, Modern Philosophy Through Kant
Lec-52.5

ADVISE: Readiness for college-level English or ESL 188

The philosophical tradition from the Renaissance to the nineteenth century. Emphasis on new scientific models of human knowledge and human nature formulated in reaction to scientific and social revolutions. Positions of thinkers such as Descartes, Hume, Kant on basic questions: Can anything be known with certainty? Are there any justifiable moral principles? Is there any purpose to existence?

UC/CSU
Units: 3
Credit type: Credit/Degree Applicable
PHIL 40, Introduction to Logic: Critical Thinking
Lec-52.5

A course in practical reasoning. How to distinguish between reasons that are rational and those that are not. Methods of evaluating arguments that will lead to truth.

UC/CSU
Units: 3
Credit type: Credit/Degree Applicable